The Experience of a Life Time

Back home I am always on the go. Sometimes from as early as 5:00 a.m. to most times 6:00 p.m. I am always running and ripping, time always seems to be rushing along, leaving me with little or no time to do much in any given day.

Since I arrived in Strasbourg, France, it is as if time stopped moving, I have plenty of time ahead of me, and I am doing stuff I would never have thought doable back at home.

For example about two weeks ago, Christina our guide and assistance informed us that after we finished our morning visit at the EM school of Management, we would head back to the Chateau for an afternoon event. In my wildest dreams, I would not have thought that we were going to ride bicycles on a trail in the deep forest on a scavenger hunt exercise. Well 2:00 p.m. we assembled near the gazebo and then we were handed our individual bicycles. Let me just inform everybody reading this blog that that was going to be my first ever bicycle ride in my entire life! I thought to myself, should I excuse myself and say I had never ridden a bicycle in my life or should I just brave it out, and try it, and give up if I was not able? Well I decided on the latter. I braved it out, everybody got on their bicycles and we started riding, of course given my situation, I zig-zagged for a little while, and thought, huh, huh, this is not going to work. I tried it again, and this time, I did not zig-zag as much, we stopped to be given instructions and put into groups. The first group left, then the second, then it was our turn. We piled in one line and I was at the back of the line, with the instructor following right behind.

To my biggest surprise, I kick the bicycle into gear, and away I went following my team-mates in one single neat line, not zig-zagging and not falling, not hitting trees, or other bicycle riders, I was actually riding and controlling it. We reached the trail and mosquitoes "jumped" on us. I had never seen so many little creatures stinging us like they were upset with us for being in their territory. This did not deter our lively spirits, we kept going, deeper and deeper into the forest, the trail was wet and slippery, but I rode on, and on, and surprisingly I was not scared anymore. I enjoyed the experience, even-though, I was really sore the next day, but so was everybody else, including the boys! I must say, this was the ultimate experience in my life and I will never forget it as long as I live, so coming to France has taught me how to ride a bicycle and I look forward to purchasing one when I return home. How nice, Wal-Mart you have a new customer for a bicycle!

Another odd thing I have done since coming to France, is jogging early in the morning. I actually wake up, get into my athletic gear, and jog for at least half an hour. This too is a first in my life, I never thought I could jog and enjoy it at the same time, even though my body is sore, I am enjoying every bit of it.

Ok guys, everyday, it seems I am going a "first" in my life. Seriously this is so absurd, I am beginning to think, maybe I might consider living in France on completion of my studies. Just for the few weeks I have been here, my life seems so much fuller, with so much to do, I have no time to stress nor boredom. The other day, one of the people who work here invited me for an early morning tennis game, do you want to hear this, I have never held a tennis racket, even when I was in high school, I thought that was a game for professionals, so I said, I do not know how to play tennis, he said just come and I will show you how...well the next morning I woke up at 6:48 a.m. dressed up again in my athletic gear, and took off to the tennis court, hoping he was not going to be there, but alas, there he was hitting balls and quickly handed me my racket, then I asked him, what do I do next, he responded never mind, I shall first show you how to hit the ball from the "sweet spot", within a few minutes I was hitting balls like I knew how. To my surprise, we were on the tennis court for an hour and I was sweating like I was in the middle of noon sun!

Bottom-line, the experience I am getting from being here is almost going to be like a story you only read in a novel, and it is worth every minute of it.

I am so glad, I was able to have this opportunity of a life time. - Caroline